The present invention relates to the measurement of electrical parameters of a vehicle electrical system. More specifically, the present invention relates to measuring an electrical parameter of an electrical system of a vehicle through the use of multiple measurements.
Electrical systems, such as those which are used in automotive vehicles, consist of a number of discreet components or systems which are interconnected. Techniques for measuring and utilizing parameters, such as dynamic parameters, of electrical systems are shown and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,416, issued Dec. 10, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,757, issued Dec. 31, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,920, issued Aug. 12, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,192, issued May 26, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,756, issued Oct. 13, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,435, issued Nov. 3, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,858, issued Feb. 16, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,605, issued Jun. 22, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,829, issued Aug. 31, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,238, issued Dec. 14, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,751, issued Mar. 14, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,777, issued Mar. 14, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,976, issued Apr. 18, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098, issued Jun. 27, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,245, issued Jul. 18, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,167, issued Aug. 15, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,269, issued Oct. 24, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,156, issued Dec. 19, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,483, issued Jan. 9, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,505, issued Jan. 9, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,369, issued Apr. 24, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,808, issued May 1, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,124, issued Jun. 19, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,254, issued Jul. 10, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,563, issued Jul. 17, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,896, issued Sep. 25, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,897, issued Sep. 25, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,087, issued Oct. 16, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,481, issued Oct. 30, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,607, issued Nov. 6, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,608, issued Nov. 6, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,914, issued Nov. 13, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,650, issued Nov. 27, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,793, issued Dec. 11, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,762, issued Dec. 18, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,113, issued Dec. 18, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,102, issued Feb. 26, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,441, issued Mar. 19, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,303, issued Mar. 26, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,031, issued Apr. 23, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,414, issued May 21, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,669, issued Jul. 9, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,158, issued Jul. 23, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,441,585, issued Aug. 17, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,437,957, issued Aug. 20, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,158, issued Sep. 3, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,456,045; U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,025, issued Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,908, issued Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,026, issued Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,511, issued Nov. 22, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,990, issued Dec. 17, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,209, issued Dec. 24, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,196, issued Jan. 14, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,534,993; issued Mar. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,078, issued Apr. 8, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,556,019, issued Apr. 29, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,566,883, issued May 20, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,941, issued Jul. 1, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,597,150, issued Jul. 22, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,272, issued Sep. 16, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,314, issued Sep. 23, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,165, issued Oct. 14, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,974, issued Oct. 21, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,303, issued Mar. 16, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,831, issued May 18, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,149, issued Jun. 1, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,849, issued Jul. 6, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,382, issued Aug. 24, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,788,025, filed Sep. 7, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,782, issued Sep. 21, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,090, filed Oct. 19, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,806,716, filed Oct. 19, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,037, filed Feb. 1, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,037, issued Feb. 1, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,151, issued Mar. 22, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,195, issued Apr. 26, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,888,468, issued May 3, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,891,378, issued May 10, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,906,522, issued Jun. 14, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,906,523, issued Jun. 14, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,909,287, issued Jun. 21, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,914,413, issued Jul. 5, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,483, issued Jul. 5, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,930,485, issued Aug. 16, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,727, issued Aug. 23, 200; U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,234, filed Sep. 6, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,484, issued Nov. 22, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,998,847, issued Feb. 14, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,410, issued Feb. 21, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,411, issued Feb. 21, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,012,433, issued Mar. 14, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,015,674, issued Mar. 21, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,034,541, issued Apr. 25, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,039,533, issued May 2, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,058,525, issued Jun. 6, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,755, issued Jul. 25, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,106,070, issued Sep. 12, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,116,109, issued Oct. 3, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,686, issued Oct. 10, 2006; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,126,341, issued Oct. 24, 2006; U.S. Ser. No. 09/780,146, filed Feb. 9, 2001, entitled STORAGE BATTERY WITH INTEGRAL BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/756,638, filed Jan. 8, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/862,783, filed May 21, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 09/880,473, filed Jun. 13, 2001; entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/993,468, filed Nov. 14, 2001, entitled KELVIN CONNECTOR FOR A BATTERY POST; U.S. Ser. No. 10/042,451, filed Jan. 8, 2002, entitled BATTERY CHARGE CONTROL DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/109,734, filed Mar. 28, 2002, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COUNTERACTING SELF DISCHARGE IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/112,998, filed Mar. 29, 2002, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH BATTERY REPLACEMENT OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/263,473, filed Oct. 2, 2002, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/310,385, filed Dec. 5, 2002, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/462,323, filed Jun. 16, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER HAVING A USER INTERFACE TO CONFIGURE A PRINTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/653,342, filed Sep. 2, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER CONFIGURED TO PREDICT A LOAD TEST RESULT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/656,526, filed Sep. 5, 2003, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING A PARAMETER OF A VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 10/441,271, filed May 19, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/653,963, filed Sep. 1, 2000, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING POWER GENERATION AND STORAGE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/174,110, filed Jun. 18, 2002, entitled DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT CONTROL USING AN INTELLIGENT POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 10/258,441, filed Apr. 9, 2003, entitled CURRENT MEASURING CIRCUIT SUITED FOR BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 10/681,666, filed Oct. 8, 2003, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH PROBE LIGHT; U.S. Ser. No. 10/748,792, filed Dec. 30, 2003, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE REMAINING DISCHARGE TIME OF A BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 10/783,682, filed Feb. 20, 2004, entitled REPLACEABLE CLAMP FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/791,141, filed Mar. 2, 2004, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Ser. No. 10/864,904, filed Jun. 9, 2004, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/867,385, filed Jun. 14, 2004, entitled ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/896,834, filed Jul. 22, 2004, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 10/897,801, filed Jul. 23, 2004, entitled SHUNT CONNECTION TO A PCB FOR AN ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EMPLOYED IN AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 10/958,821, filed Oct. 5, 2004, entitled IN-VEHICLE BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 10/958,812, filed Oct. 5, 2004, entitled SCAN TOOL FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 11/008,456, filed Dec. 9, 2004, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING BATTERY CAPACITY AND FITNESS FOR SERVICE FROM A BATTERY DYNAMIC PARAMETER AND A RECOVERY VOLTAGE DIFFERENTIAL, U.S. Ser. No. 60/587,232, filed Dec. 14, 2004, entitled CELLTRON ULTRA, U.S. Ser. No. 11/018,785, filed Dec. 21, 2004, entitled WIRELESS BATTERY MONITOR; U.S. Ser. No. 60/653,537, filed Feb. 16, 2005, entitled CUSTOMER MANAGED WARRANTY CODE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/063,247, filed Feb. 22, 2005, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER OR CHARGER WITH DATABUS CONNECTION; U.S. Ser. No. 60/665,070, filed Mar. 24, 2005, entitled OHMMETER PROTECTION CIRCUIT; U.S. Ser. No. 11/141,234, filed May 31, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING FAULTY BATTERY POST ADAPTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 11/143,828, filed Jun. 2, 2005, entitled BATTERY TEST MODULE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/146,608, filed Jun. 7, 2005, entitled SCAN TOOL FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 60,694,199, filed Jun. 27, 2005, entitled GEL BATTERY CONDUCTANCE COMPENSATION; U.S. Ser. No. 11/178,550, filed Jul. 11, 2005, entitled WIRELESS BATTERY TESTER/CHARGER; U.S. Ser. No. 60/705,389, filed Aug. 4, 2005, entitled PORTABLE TOOL THEFT PREVENTION SYSTEM, U.S. Ser. No. 11/207,419, filed Aug. 19, 2005, entitled SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY GATHERING BATTERY INFORMATION FOR USE DURING BATTERY TESTER/CHARGING, U.S. Ser. No. 60/712,322, filed Aug. 29, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE, U.S. Ser. No. 60/713,169, filed Aug. 31, 2005, entitled LOAD TESTER SIMULATION WITH DISCHARGE COMPENSATION, U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,881, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled PLUG-IN FEATURES FOR BATTERY TESTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 60/731,887, filed Oct. 31, 2005, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/304,004, filed Dec. 14, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER THAT CALCULATES ITS OWN REFERENCE VALUES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/304,004, filed Dec. 14, 2005, entitled BATTERY TESTER WITH CALCULATES ITS OWN REFERENCE VALUES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/751,853, filed Dec. 20, 2005, entitled BATTERY MONITORING SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 11/352,945, filed Feb. 13, 2006, entitled BATTERY TESTERS WITH SECONDARY FUNCTIONALITY; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,299, filed Feb. 16, 2006, entitled CENTRALLY MONITORED SALES OF STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,436, field Feb. 16, 2006, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH RELATIVE TEST OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 11/356,443, filed Feb. 16, 2006, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH NETWORK COMMUNICATION; U.S. Ser. No. 11/410,263, filed Apr. 24, 2006, entitled QUERY BASED ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 11/498,703, filed Aug. 3, 2006, entitled THEFT PREVENTION DEVICE FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE SERVICE CENTERS; U.S. Ser. No. 11/507,157, filed Aug. 21, 2006, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SIMULATING A BATTERY TESTER WITH A FIXED RESISTANCE LOAD; U.S. Ser. No. 11/511,872, filed Aug. 29, 2006, entitled AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE; U.S. Ser. No. 11/519,481, filed Sep. 12, 2006, entitled BROAD-BAND LOW-CONDUCTANCE CABLES FOR MAKING KELVIN CONNECTIONS TO ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 60/847,064, filed Sep. 25, 2006, entitled STATIONARY BATTERY MONITORING ALGORITHMS; which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
There is an ongoing need to measure parameters of electrical systems of vehicles and heavy equipment. Such measurements can be used to diagnose operation, failure or impending failure of components or subsystems of electrical systems. For example, in electrical systems used in vehicles, measurement of electrical parameters of such systems can be used to diagnose operation of system or indicate that maintenance is required before ultimate failure.
One particular measurement is the resistance of cabling used in large equipment such as heavy trucks. For example, one such cable or set of cables connects the battery of vehicle to the starter motor. The starter motor has a relatively large current draw and even a relatively small cable resistance can have a significant impact on operation of the starter motor.
Because the cable resistance is relatively small it typically cannot be measured using a standard ohm meter or other techniques which are normally used to measure resistance. One technique which has been used to measure the cable resistance is to run a very large current through the cable and measure the voltage drop. However, this is cumbersome and requires components capable of handling the large current.